This morning the Dartmouth High School field house will be overflowing with smiles, none wider than the ones on the 160 faces of the special-needs children who will parade their way into the Opening Ceremonies of the ninth annual Dartmouth School Day Games.

Students from New Bedford, Westport and Fall River school systems will convene at 9:15 a.m., and will participate in Special Olympics and Unified Games competition on the high school track from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The startling progress that these students have made to address the individual challenges that life has presented them can be traced to a network involving their parents, teachers, Special Olympics Massachusetts and a fantastic program known as Adapted Physical Education.

The point person of that program is Michael Cappello, better known to some as the Dartmouth High head hockey coach.

"This stuff for me is a collaborative thing with the people I work with," said Cappello. "I love my job because I love the people I work with, and I love the people I work for and it's a great town to work in."

It's no wonder he has never lost energy for, or interest in, a career he decided to pursue before graduating from the University of Rhode Island in 1987. He first caught the bug for Adapted Physical Education when he was teaching a swim class that turned into an adapted aquatics class.

"That really influenced me. I changed the emphasis of my major (health and biology)," said Cappello, who first worked at a residential school in Milford before joining Dartmouth Public Schools for the 1991-92 year.

"I've had kids that I've seen in preschool and I continue to see in high school. If they can successfully access the curriculum without my support they move on," said Cappello. "What's changed is the collaboration now is so much more than it was when I started. I work much more closely with the Phys. Ed. teachers and the speech language pathologists."

Something he calls the "delivery of services" has revolutionized the ability of education to integrate special-needs students with mainstream students and mainstream activities.

"For my daughter (Paige), it's been fantastic. He has molded her into more of a peer this year. He always makes her feel comfortable in his gym class," said Marianne Santos, who co-chairs the town's Special Education Parent Advisory Council with SEPAC President Kathleen Amaral.

Paige has what Marianne described as mild cerebral palsy, and through Adapted Physical Education, she is now able to play kickball if someone else runs the bases for her.

"My daughter looks forward to going to gym, and if you can picture a ninth grader — she asked Mr. Cappello if she could have gym for nine more weeks," said Marianne.

Cappello has Paige on the tricycle three times a week, and one of the things he did this year was pair her on the treadmill exercise with another child who was not as advanced.

"He's built the confidence of my daughter. There are also kids that Mr. Cappello has done this with and for many years," said Marianne. "He's got the tough love, but he's got a way about him that he can get kids to do what they need to do without becoming (someone less)."

In a challenging but encouraging environment, Paige pushed her way forward from surgery in second grade to treat scoliosis, and Marianne insists she would not have become part of these activities had it not been for the care Cappello puts into each student and managing their learning environment.

"It comes natural to him, he just does it, like it's the right thing to do," said Ana Riley, Dartmouth superintendent of schools. "He thinks about this thing from all perspectives, not just the kids with special needs but his hockey team, too. He wants to make it the best experience for everyone. He just creates that kind of environment where good things happen."

The Dartmouth hockey team held a fundraiser during February vacation week and asked SEPAC to hold a 50-50 raffle to raise money for Special Olympics. Paige sold bracelets at the game and donated a dollar of every one sold to Special Olympics.

"That's kind of what he's built in every child," said Marianne.

Cappello was recently voted one of 15 semifinalists for the "LIVE with Kelly and Michael" show's "Top Teacher" nationwide online voting contest.

"I was certainly — the parents that nominated me —- it felt pretty good, and seeing the comments of the parents and some of my former players was certainly nice," admitted Cappello, for whom publicity feels like a pie in the face.

Amaral said Santos thought of nominating Cappello for the contest, and his face did appear on the show's website before the five finalists were announced. He did not make the final cut, but Riley believes the Northeast was at a disadvantage with the final voting push coming during the district's April vacation.

Cappello insists that none of these successes happen without the beyond-the-call effort of teachers, therapists and supervisors, including Linda Meniglia, the special education director at Dartmouth schools.

"She's very supportive and she's great at allowing us to think outside the box and doing more," said Cappello. "She's been a valuable resource for myself, as are all the Phys. Ed. teachers throughout the system. They set the table for making that climate so inclusive, very safe and very fun."

Special-needs students' needs are initially addressed with an Individual Education Plan (IEP), and Cappello works on a six-day cycle to visit different gym classes so he sees his students every other day. Often they have gross motor difficulties, and by modifying the curriculum and adapting the activity in a mainstream gym class, a special-needs student becomes able to participate.

"So if they're playing a particular game, there might be some different rules," said Cappello. "If it's badminton, we might be using a bigger birdie or an adapted racket. This way they can have some meaningful participation."

Age, gender and variety of challenges and levels of need fill the work day. One of the children needing more attention at Quinn Elementary is Amaral's 10-year-old son, Liam, who does not speak.

"If he could stay with Mr. Cappello all day long, he'd be happy," said Kathleen.

Liam's sixth-grade sister, Emma, plays travel basketball, and a familiar scene is her peers going up to her brother and saying, "Slap me five."

"Liam loves to be recognized, he likes to high-five everyone and my daughter is proud," said Kathleen. "I feel like (Cappello) is very in-tune to pairing kids up. He's opening their eyes to the disability world, and the kids are motivated."

"He'll always tell you if a certain kid will be friendly with Liam," adds Kathleen. "He has that ability — that bridge between the students with me, and the students without me, and how he fosters and how he leads by example. His hockey team is there all day long. Big hockey players, obviously, they're inspired by him, to be like him."

Adapted Physical Education expands past the school grounds with recreational opportunities such as Special Olympics, bowling, ice skating, karate — Cappello estimates a dozen have gone on to become black belts — and other activities.

"We're naturally very excited to have Mike in our corner. He's become well-known silently," said Megan Hoffman, South Section director for Special Olympics Massachusetts.

Hoffman believes that the world can learn to view disabled children in a different light, and Cappello's work is a key influence toward that end.

"They should have the opportunity to participate in sports like everybody else," she said. "They're more abled than disabled, and in the (Adapted Physical Education) program Mike promotes that and proves it."

Bob Mercer, owner of Bob's Sea & Ski in New Bedford, raised over $34,000 for this year's event through his annual March fundraiser.

Today's Opening Ceremonies are a celebration of that teamwork. The ones who enjoy it the most are the students. The ones who appreciate it the most are their loved ones.

Cappello didn't win "Top Teacher," to many in Dartmouth, he is the best on anyone's show.

"He didn't make the top five," said Marianne, "but he's No. 1 in our book."

Unified sports will be a new element in this year's School Day Games, which also involves the Southeastern Massachusetts Educational Collaborative, a special classroom at Dartmouth High that involves adult students in the community, teaching them life skills.

"It's a very emotional day," said Marinne Santos. "That much effort to put into it so that each child gets a medal, that takes a lot of time and a lot of knowledge of your students and what they're capable of — that's hard."